It's been ten years since insurers started adding breast reconstruction after cancer surgery to medical insurance. At the time, insurers had a hard time with the subject, but over the last ten years, all insurers, with the exception of some older employer plans, now have the benefit.

The article, which you can read here, only mentioned four of the 10 providers of medical insurance benefits in the New Zealand market at the time, which does the market a disservice as it does provide valuable benefits to policyholders in need with 8 out of 10 at the time having some response to breast reconstruction after surgery.

I’ve said for many years that Kiwi's love being self-employed, and we seem to switch between employed and self-employed a lot. Some succeed, some have a change of direction, and some are about a change of situation. The point is that change is inevitable.

What will surprise you; typically, there are over 45,000 start-up businesses each year in New Zealand. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that a large number of these businesses are registered with the Companies Office early in the new year. Unfortunately, a lot of these businesses will simply fail due to cash-flow constraints. Some will be because the business isn’t sustainable, but the more likely reason is someone got injured or was prevented from working due to a disability.

I work but don't get paid; the insurance company won't insure me.

This is probably right for disability-related benefits. Not to diminish what you do, but lots of valuable people in our community do essential things but don't get paid for it; mothers and volunteers tend to top that list.

One of the factors with this is that insurance companies insure for financial loss; with unpaid occupations, this is hard to quantify.

Janine Starks has recently highlighted issues with the way banks are operating mobile payment services, and it's a bit scary.

Back in Feb 2023, Janine published this article outlining the problem; overseas and not here, most won't have taken any notice

However, more recently, there have been cases where New Zealand account holders have been ripped off using the same approach.

So you have existing medical insurance coverage, but you are concerned about unfunded and non-Pharmac subsidised medicines, especially for cancer.

You are concerned because your present cover is either limited or non-existent for this area of your medical treatment. 

If you are fit and healthy, then this is not quite the issue it could be, and moving to a plan that does cover this is relatively straightforward. 

But that’s not the reason you are reading this either.

Some watching may have noticed that updates here have been a bit sparse. There are some good reasons.

Some of them are claims, and there are lots of claims. Two years ago, we managed about 85 claims for the year, mostly medical claims.

2022 that ticked up markedly with Covid and the Public Health system struggling.

We have recently seen a number of changes with bank life insurers and we now have both BNZ and Westpac life insurance administered by traditional life insurance providers. Meaning that if you have life trauma or disability products from your bank, it's time to have a closer look as it may be that we can improve what you have or reduce your premiums in ways not previously considered.

How did you get here?

We have all had ‘The would you like fries with that approach’. You are standing at the teller at the bank doing your banking and they start asking you a bunch of questions. You are here now; we can do other things for you, nice and easy. Do you have life insurance; can we help you with your mortgage? Can we invest your money or look after your Kiwisaver? Or some other variation on this.

My question is why would you take advice for your insurance or investments standing at a teller at the bank? Would you take advice for chest pains from your local cafe owner? My point is they are chalk and cheese, banking and insurance.

Look before you leap. Aussie shopkeepers and Kiwi small business owners. Terms often used by people looking at our respective markets when looking at the predominant structures for trade and commerce.

Probably not too far wrong, New Zealand has one of the highest per capita self-employed rates in the world. Which is why I am focussing this posting on those of you who are employed rather than self-employed. Because employed Kiwis often have a change in situation and end up self-employed.

Interest rates have risen, and they are all biting. Is this a problem? It depends on your perspective.

If you are a homeowner, then yes, it will have a direct impact: Your mortgage payments will rise. Again, is this a problem?

If you bought your home some time ago when rates were higher and have not borrowed more, it is probably not a problem. You have been enjoying significantly cheaper money than you anticipated. Additionally, you have possibly paid back more principal than you normally would have, and you are now in a better position.

Medical insurance is a changing landscape, not only with policy terms and conditions but with the providers now. 

10 years ago, we had 10 different medical providers; we now have 6 and likely that there will be more mergers in the market.

Medical insurance is a product that typically is not reinsured, so the money for claims, operating the insurer, marketing & sales all come out of the same pot.

 Something we get asked about from time to time.

From what we have seen and heard it's needed, as the treatment for your beloved pet is often more expensive than your own medical treatments.

We have access to assist with the PetCover range of products, and our clients have had a good experience with them so far. At the same time, we're not specialists in the area, and seeking additional information and experience with your vet is a good place to start.

A good question and one that is often misunderstood when it comes to income protection.

It’s also been coming up in conversations more recently, suggesting there’s some job security sentiment developing.

In New Zealand, there are five situations that impact your ability to earn an income.

It's well known that gender identity issues have fallen under the scope of mental health. The recent media activity around the subject has brought it into mainstream awareness.

From 1 January 2020, the WHO updated their ICD (International Classification of Disease) to version 11 and put it online with exciting changes.

Babies have been the key subject at home in the last few weeks with a new addition. A previous comment about medical insurance has got me thinking.

Those things around Babies and New Family members you need to be aware of that can trigger a need to have a chat with us.

I've spent 24 years in financial services, during which time I've worked on a significant number of difficult income protection claims. I still don't understand why the indemnity-first approach for income protection still prevails with the majority of advisers in today's environment.

Well, I do. It's not the client-first approach we'd all like to expect. Advisers have to do less and get paid more, but that's another story.